Eat Cook Live

It’s rare, very rare, that a restaurant can change my whole understanding about a class of food.  Fonda is one of those rare restaurants.  Fonda has made me believe that Mexican food can be sophisticated.  I’ve always loved Mexican food; both the massive Americanized platters of corn tortillas flooded with sauce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole and the more authentic corn tortillas or rice and bean dishes.  But I’ve never thought of Mexican food as fancy or high end.  Both of the usual varieties are satisfying but can hardly be called elegant.  Even the nicer Mexican spots seem to put out food that still approximates Don Pablo’s, just with better ambiance and a long tequila list.  So my elevation of Fonda deservers a thorough justification.

However, a thorough justification is going to have to wait. I want to return a few more times before making my full report.  For now I’ll keep it short.  I’ve dined at Fonda a few times and sampled their happy hour menu and, while I did have one major service failure here, the food has always impressed.  Good enough that I don’t feel cheated for paying $16 for the enchiladas.

It’s now officially a new year’s resolution to get back to Fonda a few more times and pound out a proper post.

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Blue Ribbon Sushi's Bar

Unlike most of the rest of the 2011 top ten, I didn’t get around to posting on these bad boys. Because I neglected to make a post (my way to remember delicious things) the details of my meals at these fine establishment are lost to my faded memory.  But both are amazing sushi spots that deserve a place in the top ten.

When dining on high end sushi, I usually pass-up the rolls for the nigiri or sashimi.  It just seems that the great flavor of fresh high quality fish gets lost in whatever else is in the roll.  But Kiku Sushi manages to use their high quality ingredients to throw out rolls that offer up amazing flavor and texture combinations.  Good enough that I’d advise treading lightly on the usual usual soy sauce wasabi mixture.

Whereas at Kiku I was impressed with the sushi rolls, Blue Ribbon threw down fantastic nigiri and sashimi.   (I’m sure they make great rolls as well, I just haven’t had the chance to sample them.)  What stands out in my memory is that sea scallop.  The thin cuts were artfully served in the scallop shell with a sauce I made from the liver.  Both the servers and sushi chefs at the sushi bar were friendly, talkative, and informative.  The only draw back of Blue Ribbon is that I can’t afford to be a regular.

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My first go at sea food gumbo was back around 2006 as a night of culinary excess with Mike and Fayaz. In 2011, as the hurricane threatened New York, I broke out the BIG pot, grabed several pounds of ingredient, and made up some gumbo for the apartment turned storm shelter. Before the water, I started with over 8 pounds of chicken, sausage okra, seafood, mushrooms, and whatever else I found around the house. After hours of cooking it was ready to be served over rice with a generous amount of hot sauce. Thinking about this mix of savory and seafood has me almost drooling onto my key board.

Fortunately there are a couple servings of the gumbo left in the freezer for the New Year.  All I need to do is make up another batch of extra moist cornbread.

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It’s Christmas Day so I’m going to keep this short.

Toby’s takes its spot at number 6 because it’s my favorite pizza spot in New York.  Great pizza supported by a good staff and a good beer selection.  Just thinking about it is making my stomach rumble in anticipation.

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Wuzzup y’all! Arthur saying there’s a party all up in here and you need to get with the flow… Oh yeah!!! Ardbeg Supernova’s got the heavy weight power when you got tha eods to rip it up to some fat bootie beast… or just chill with the honies… so get on the rocket and see the stars… Ardbeg Supernova… DAMN!!!

It’s crezappy!!!

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I thought about giving the number eight spot to Sake Bar Hagi.  But, while the post describing this amazingly fun dining spot appeared 2011, my actual first trip was in 2010.

I’m shocked myself to see a brunch spot in the top 10, but after mulling it over for a few days I couldn’t pull Perch Cafe out.  The brunch fills me with all the joy and comfort I would expect from this early afternoon meal.  On several  trips since my first visit, I’ve sampled more and more of the menu and have yet to be disappointed (except maybe by the wrap, which is just too healthy for me). But more than the food, the great servers have me developing an irrational attachment.  The servers are the prefect blend of surly and friendly–willing to stop and chat (or give me shit for not taking down the last bit of cheesy grits).  I always leave satiated and with a brightened day.  As long as I’m in Park Slope, Perch Cafe has a solid spot in my brunch rotation.

Perch also offers up a dinner menu that I’m excited to sample in the New Year courtesy of a living social deal.

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In celebration of passing the bar, I finally made it to this venerable New York establishment.  (Thank you Fayaz for picking up the tab.)  In addition to being any red blooded carnivore’s dream, it’s hard to walk through these doors and not feel like you’re trapping into a little piece of history. The ambiance of the bar and the perfectly made Gibsons alone are enough of a reason to try this place.

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For the start of the 2011 countdown we reach all the way back to February to recall Angry (Devil) Mussels.  These spicy crustaceans were great the first time around, but they made their way into the top ten because I couldn’t help making them a few more times throughout the year.

Before these guys showed-up at a roomate dinner, Fayaz swore he would never eat mussels; but after being tempted by spice and just a few he was taking them down just as fast as he could get ’em out their shell.  As cheap as they are easy to make, I can’t wait to cook-up some more in 2012.

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As we reach the end of 2011, it’s time to look back and countdown the top 10 epicurean encounters of the year. Join me as I lay back, pat my stomach, and look back on a year of great food and drink.

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While it seems like every two or three months a new restaurant pops-up in the South Slope–in a former bodega here, in a defunct shoe store there–8th Avenue is still by and large a culinary waste land.  So I was excited to see a restaurant in the works just two blocks from my apartment and waited with anticipation as it filled in a store front that has been vacant since I moved in to the neighborhood well over a year ago.

Then, one morning, on my way to the train, I saw that Giovanni’s Brooklyn Eats, complete with its shinny new neon sign, was open.  I excitedly grabbed a menu.  As I walked my excitement grew when I realized this new establishment was sporting a prefix brunch menu with all you can drink mimosas or bloody marrys.  But I could swear I’d seen it before.  As I scanned I realized that the menu was the same as Sette’s.  The same Sette at which I had a uniquely disappointing brunch experience several months ago.  Some internet researching revealed that this is in fact a reincarnation of the now closed Sette.

But this last weekend I was on the hunt for a brunch spot and thought I would give this Sette 2.0 a second chance.  It won’t be getting a third.  Giovanni’s presents a charming modern rustic interior.  But, as with the food, the appearance is where my appreciation ends.

As with Sette, the brunch food at Giovanni’s is remarkable only for its ability pack so little flavor into a beautifully presented plate.  I again tried the eggs Benedict.  This is a basic brunch dish, if it’s wrong it’s usually a sign the rest of menu will struggle.  None of the previous problems with this dish are solved in the new location.  The Hollandaise sauce is nothing more than a smear of orange on top of an admittedly well poached egg.  The ham acts as a salty condom ensuring that the delicious egg yolk  and sparse sauce doesn’t accidentally contact the hard bread base.  Though I did managed to get enough liquid under the ham to make one piece of bread edible.

The uovo al forno, an oven baked egg over polenta, tomato, and riccatt, was an uninspired, greasy, salty disappointment. Both who ordered this dish received over cooked eggs.  The real problem is that the tomato presented no flavor or freshness and nor did any other element to the dish.

On my visit to Sette I ran into serious server troubles–some of the worst service I’ve even encountered.  And, while the service was better at Giovanni’s, it still leaves much to be desire.  Our server wasn’t hostile or evasive, but it did at times take significant work to grab his attention and he never checked in on the table of his own accord.  My biggest disappointment was that, on exiting, I saw a sign outside describing the brunch and listing free coffee or tea as an element.  A fact that our server neglected to mention to this poor caffeine addicted soul.

I had strong hopes for Giovanni’s.  Nothing would make me happier than having an awesome brunch place such a lazy distance from my front door.  But it looks like the brunch gods want me to travel far and walk off my morning indulgences.

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